


Too Fast Too Far

by eternalglitch



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, During-Episode: s01e22 Steven and the Stevens, Gem War, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Steven finally meets his mother, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-23 21:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21088349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternalglitch/pseuds/eternalglitch
Summary: Set during the events of episode 22: Steven and the Stevens.Steven wasn’t trying to go that far back; just far enough that he can stop himself from ever picking up that stupid time thingy. However, something clearly went wrong, because he never expected to actually meet his mother… Also, it seems he's stuck here?





	Too Fast Too Far

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a lot of time in my life for writing right now but could not get this idea out of my head however hard I tried. And so, here we are. Update schedule will be fairly sporadic for a while, you've been warned.  
Ships that might be softly hinted at: RosexPearl and SapphirexRuby. None others should appear at all as far as I am aware at this point in time, and none as a focus of the plot.  
And now, on with the show!

Steven gasps, diving away as Stevens Two, Three, and Four all jump at him, hands reaching. His palms are slick with sweat, and he nearly drops the time orb as he juggles it from hand to hand. “Stop it!” he yells, trying to hold them off. “You’re being ridiculous!”

“No, you’re being ridiculous! Just hand it over, Steven!” Steven Two yells, grabbing onto his leg and yanking.

Steven grunts, his legs suddenly swept out from under him. “Ah!” He shrieks. “Stop, stop stop! Time thingy, take me back! Take me back before this mess even started!”

The small orb glows, and everything vanishes in a flash of bright white light and a garbled warping noise. Steven instinctively throws his hands over his head, eyes squeezed shut, before the light fades away and he’s somewhere… else.

Rain drips down his face, soaking him almost immediately. His hair is instantly drenched, losing the shape that he had teased it into with a comb. He looks around, momentarily disoriented; unlike every other location the time thingy has brought him to, this place is unfamiliar. It’s dark here, the ground lacking any grass and almost instantly turning into mud.

Steven turns, searching for the other Stevens, but there’s still no sign of them. “That’s weird,” he mutters. “They've followed me immediately every other time.”

There’s a loud crackle of thunder, and Steven shivers, wrapping his hands around his middle. He swallows, tilting one of his hands up towards his face and opening it a crack. The time orb glimmers at him, and he nods. “Okay,” he says, taking a deep breath. “Take me back to the moment I—“

Snatches of voices, carried over the wind.

“—needed to see this,” someone says, voice grave. The voice isn’t one he recognizes, but something about it catches his attention enough to make him want to linger.

Steven pauses, head turning. There’s a reply, and this one is easily recognizable, even if the wind snatches the words themselves out of the air.

“Pearl!” Steven realizes. “She can help me fix this problem with the other Stevens.” He perks up, almost bouncing as he darts towards the voices at full sprint. It’s just over a hill, but as he ascends to the peak and the grounds grows muddier, he is distracted by the towering cliffs that abruptly loom out of nowhere. “Whoah,” he gasps. “What are those doing he_eeere?!” _He squeaks, his sandal skidding in the mud and his body tipping forwards. He flounders, trying to summon a bubble, but before he can he hits the ground hard and ends up rolling down the hill.

After he slides to a stop, he shoves himself up, gasping as he coughs. “Bleh,” he gasps, mud covering him from head to toe. “Aw man, Pearl is really going to scold me for this.” He pats himself down, but nothing hurts except a few possible bruises, so he picks himself up and keeps going. Pearl is going to make him take a bath as soon as he gets back though, he's sure of it. 

He can now make out two figures standing closer to the forbidding cliffs. One is clearly Pearl, but the other is much bigger- almost as tall as Garnet, even! The rain makes it hard to make them out though, so Steven cups his hands around his mouth. “Pearl!” He calls, waving an arm excitedly. “Hey, Pearl!”

He skids to a stop in front of her, panting a bit as he folds over and leans on his knees. “Whoo, okay,” he gasps. “Hey, Pearl, I need your help!” He looks up, grinning, but as she stares at him for a long moment, expression perplexed, he falters. “Uh, Pearl?” He asks.

He’s… never seen Pearl wear this outfit before. It looks closer to her old one, before the whole sword fighting accident, but the top is wrong, and the skirt is much longer. She looks… daintier? Something about her is off.

“Do I… know you?” Pearl slowly asks, glancing at her companion for confirmation. Steven also looks, before feeling his stomach drop to his toes and his heart leap into his throat.

He knows this gem.

“Uh,” he stammers, face flushing. “I, I…” He’s covered in mud, and sopping wet. What did he look like? A mess?

Rose Quartz turns to glance down at him, a soft smile crossing her face. “Oh, hello,” she says, crouching down to see him. “You’re… one of the local species, aren’t you? What can we do for you?”

Somehow, her voice is exactly as Steven had imagined it for all the years he had grown up glancing at her photo. She isn’t wearing that white dress though, instead, a two-piece pink outfit adorning her figure, a pink diamond on her chest.

As he stares for a moment longer, at a loss for words, Rose glances away from him, up at Pearl. “Do you know this creature, Pearl? It said your name.”

“No, I do not, my Diamond,” Pearl says hesitantly. “I have also never been down here myself. There’s no way for anything to recognize me.”

“Um!” Steven tries again, hastily wiping mud off of his face with his shirt. He wonders if that helped, or if he just spread it around some more. “My- my name is Steven!”

His mom giggles, and he can’t help but also grin nervously. “It’s very nice to meet you, Steven,” Rose says, standing back up. “But I’m afraid I can’t stay and play with you; we have to get going.”

“What? But- can’t I come with?” Steven begs. The two gems exchange a glance, and Steven tries not to panic. This is his one chance to get to know his mother- beachapalooza can wait. “I’m a gem too!”

“What?” Pearl frowns. “I’m sorry, but you don’t look like any type of gem made on this planet.”

“But it’s true!” Steven insists. “I’m a Rose Quartz!”

His mom laughs again. “Where did it learn this?” She asks, amused. “Steven, you’re clearly organic. You’re from Earth, right?” Her expression becomes more serious, and she sighs, looking at him, expression almost sad. “You're from Earth,” She repeats.

“Well- yes, I am?” Where exactly were the gems from, again? He should know this. Pearl had mentioned they were from space a few times, right? “But I’m half gem! See?” He tugs up his muddy shirt, and his gem glimmers softly in the dim light.

Rose’s eyes widen, and she kneels down again to look. “Unbelievable; how is this even possible?” She whispers, looking back at Steven. “You- your body is _organic._ But you have a gem? I can’t believe this.” Her eyes glimmer. “Pearl, can you believe this? This couldn’t happen anywhere else, could it? Only on Earth.”

Pearl also had approached, staring down at him with her brow furrowed. “But- but- this should be _impossible_, my Diam-“

“Pearl! Don’t,” Rose suddenly hisses, standing back up. “She’s a gem! I think. Does she classify as a gem?”

“Uh, I’m… a boy,” Steven says awkwardly. Both gems glance blankly at him, and he flushes again. “You know, he and him pronouns? Erm… do gems not normally…. Use those?” Come to think of it, he only knew Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet and they were all girls. 

“How were you even _made_?” Pearl finally asks. “The local life is made from entirely different processes- this has to be some sort of _trick_.” 

Rose covers her mouth with one hand, thinking. “But if s- _he’s_ real,” she says. “Isn’t that just another new aspect of Earth? Oh!” She gasps. “What if the way he was made doesn’t hurt this planet, Pearl?”

Pearl stiffens. “My- My Quartz. Are you suggesting— “

“That I petition Blue and Yellow to consider trying to make a planet of gems like him? Yes!” Rose says, bouncing up and down. She grabs Steven’s hands, yanking him up off of the ground and twirling him around. “Just think! We could have the best of both world if we just-“

“Uh, wait, wait, wait!” Steven shouts. Rose stops swinging him around and just holds him up close to her, and he blinks, trying to stop seeing multiple moms all keenly watching him. “I’m… I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Last time he changed something from the past, things got crazy. He doesn’t know when this was- before his mom even met Greg? Oh gosh, but the gems are thousands of years old, so this could be who knows when!

“Well, why don't you start by coming with me and telling me how you were made? Or, or what you’re like! You’re so interesting- do you have more gem or more- what species is local here, Pearl?”

“Humans, my…. Quartz.” Pearl answers after a pause.

“Human tendencies!” Rose finishes with a flourish. “Come on, let’s go! I bet even Blue and Yellow would understand if I came here if it was because I found something so wonderful!” She sets him down, but doesn’t let go of one of his hands.

Steven looks up at her, eyes wide. “Okay,” he whispers. He looks down, a smile growing on his face. He can just go back as planned and stop himself from touching the time thingy, right? His actions here won’t even matter. But she’s _here_ and looking at him and talking to him and he just…

Shouldn’t he take this chance to know his own mother? Just for a day or two?

He starts excitedly talking about his house and his dad when his mom asks him about it. Something stops him from confessing who he is, though- he wants to get to know his mom just a little bit better, first. Just a bit! Then it’ll be easier to explain everything.

* * *

What Steven doesn’t notice, however, is that left behind in the mud at the base of the hill, a small shape is left behind. At first glance, covered in mud as it is, it looks almost like an oddly smooth rock. But if one were to look closely, they would see a glimmer of gold and glass where the mud didn’t completely cover its' surface.


End file.
